Hurry Up Tomorrow: Más allá de los reflectores

I honestly thought The Weeknd had hit rock bottom with The Idol, but this movie proved me wrong. I went in with low expectations, and it still managed to disappoint me on every level. This isn't a film - it's an overlong, pretentious disaster masquerading as art.

About 60% of the runtime feels like a glorified music video, 30% is pointless, dragged-out dialogue, and the remaining 10% is the camera spinning in circles like someone just discovered how a gimbal works. And The Weeknd? He plays himself - crying, sweating, sulking - in literally every single scene. I swear he made this movie just to show he can cry on camera. Mission accomplished, I guess.

Jenna Ortega is a great actress, but here she's completely wasted. She spends most of her time dancing to his songs, giving cringe "Genius lyric breakdown" speeches while he's tied to a bed. Yes, that's not a metaphor. That actually happens.

The film desperately wants to be deep and meaningful - a psychological journey, maybe even a metaphor for regret and fame - but it ends up being shallow, incoherent, and unintentionally hilarious. There's a viral clip where The Weeknd yells, "Shut the f** up, God!"* in the flattest delivery I've ever heard. It honestly feels like they just used the first take and called it a day.

I started taking notes halfway through. That's how bad it got. I won't even bother with spoiler warnings - you can't spoil garbage. Trash is trash.

The only joy I got was seeing people actually walk out of the theater during the second act. That gave me a weird sense of solidarity.

Bottom line: If you're not a diehard Weeknd fan who's willing to defend anything he does, don't waste your time. Unless you want to experience what it feels like to get emotionally bludgeoned for two hours by a weeping pop star - then by all means, go ahead.

If you were looking for a film that gave every possible art film camera angle and effect, this is the one for you. Reminded me the first time I used Photoshop and had to try out all the cool effects, the difference is I didn't try to use them all in the same photo. This movie did.

30 minutes of it was actually reasonably good, but the other hour plus was unnecessary.

Don't worry about having to go to the bathroom in the first hour, because you won't miss anything of substance.

I was mildly surprised by The Weeknd's acting, then I realize he's playing himself, so not really acting.

Jenna was great, the only bright spot in this lack luster film.

Prefacing this by saying i am a huge fan of the weeknd, and was willing to give this film a chance after the idol. That being said, this film just felt wholly unneeded? It might be better than the idol, sure, but that's not saying much. But it didn't really DO anything, narrative wise, development wise, etc. The best way i'd describe this would be it feels like a long music video, with nice shots, and (maybe too many) songs, but lacks any real substance to it... i will say i appreciated some parts, especially when there was a dive into abel's introspection in the dream sequences. But the issue was, it really just didn't dive deep enough to feel meaningful, and ultimately fell flat.

Abel's acting is an improvement from his last stunt but it's not saying much. Coming from a place of love for his music and craft, i think he would be much more successful behind the scenes rather than in front of it (at least for now). Overall? I would watch it if you want to get a few laughs in from unintentionally funny scenes, and if you are a big fan of the weeknd, it's worth a shot.

It's an okay movie, but not what I was expecting story-wise. I do get why a lot of diehard Weeknd fans will like it, and I don't want to take that away from them, but coming from a semi-fan who really enjoyed the album, it could've been a lot better. A lot of fluff could have been cut to make a much better ending. And I'm not just talking about unimportant scenes, there are several moments where characters just stand and do nothing for like, 6 seconds or so. Basic information even slight fans of the Weeknd should know is spoon-fed, while critical information about the entire movie has to be pieced together as the credits roll. It is pretty emotional, it just could have been executed so much better. Also, if you at all suffer from epilepsy or dizziness, do not see this movie. There's no warning but there's a ton of bright rapidly flashing lights and fast moving camera angles.

You are significantly more likely to enjoy this movie if any of the following are true: You are a Jenna Ortega stan. You love The Weeknd and his music. You like ethereal movies where metaphors and symbolism are the main draw. You don't mind visual storytelling with minimal actual story.

None of the above are true for me. I think Jenna Ortega is a highly talented actress and does not disappoint with this performance. The Weeknd also does a good job, although it's hard to tell since he's playing himself. And they are two of the realest celebrities out there, never afraid to stand up for what's right.

As for the movie overall, I found it overly slow and pretty boring. The story is super basic and could have been told in half the time. The visuals are cool but feel pointless. It will really depend on each viewer if the visuals and music are enough to make this an enjoyable experience.

(1 viewing, early screening UltraScreen 5/14/2025)